Winter Magic of the Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, winter is especially a time when balls and dances are held, and a time when you have a unique opportunity to see ancient folklore celebrations in all their glory.

The magic of wintertime Prague: refinement, elegance and style

The Opera Ball 2015 on 7th February pays tribute to the art of living. This year's theme is "Savoir vivre". Guests can look forward to spending the evening in the storyline of the most famous pieces of music and the ball night scenery will transport them to the world of French luxury. The French do not perceive the term savoir vivre as just enjoying life to the fullest. The true value and meaning is "to live the good life, learn, choose the best in every situation and remain elegant and true to good manners." And that’s what the Opera Ball strives to achieve as well.

The Opera Ball is not the only world event, which will take place in Prague in February. A magnificent show is also promised by the traditional festival Bohemian Carnevale, which builds on the historical and allegorical Masopust festivities that have taken place in Bohemia since the Middle Ages. The carnival is a colorful showcase of the unique capabilities of refined taste and dazzling creativity. This year the inhabitants of Prague and the carnival guests will revel in the fun from February 6th to 17th, 2015. The carnival festivities will take place in the open air, in public spaces, as well as in palaces, museums, restaurants and hotels. The carnival will culminate in a big Baroque masked ball.

Superior winter cuisine

Long winter evenings are ideal for a variety of evening gastronomic events. The best Czech restaurants traditionally come together in January and February in the Grand Restaurant Festival, which will allow you to purchase a voucher and enjoy a multiple-course gourmet tasting in the restaurants of the top chefs in Prague, as well as in other places in the Czech Republic. This year the Grand Restaurant Festival is taking place from 15th January to 28th February.

Masopust festivities in the countryside

The originally pagan celebration of Masopust was deftly included in the liturgical calendar by Christianity and its duration was defined according to Easter. The period of slaughter and waiting for spring, the last chance to eat your fill before the forty days of fasting, which kicks off 40 days before Easter. All kinds of rituals, parades, carol-singing, games and songs and all of it done for a single goal - to coax a good harvest so that in the following year they could happily celebrate again in a carefree manner.

You can find the Masopust festivities for example in Český Krumlov. Here the renewed folk tradition of the Masopust festivities will fill the city center for the eighth time. The parade of masks accompanied by jugglers, musicians, street theater there is very baroque, opulent and artistically remarkable. The Renaissance backdrop of Český Krumlov, a city registered on the UNESCO list, of course, gives the whole event a particular brilliance. However, the tradition of Masopust is also followed in South Moravia. In the sight of reservoir of Nové Mlýny in the shadows of Pálava, in Hustopeče, the Masopust festivities are mingled with true Moravian pork feasts. The masks there are created on the basis of wild imagination and the contemporary allusions have no limits. In Bohemia, you can mainly get acquainted with the Masopust festivities in the open-air museum at Veselý Kopec, when the celebrations hit the streets on 31st January. And in Vortová, where the Masopust carnival is registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage monument, the fun starts on 14th February.